ASUU Strike Action: Confusion Trails OAU Semester Examination

Students and lecturers at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, have frowned at the confusion trailing the ongoing rain semester examination for 2017/2018 session. The examination has been on for more than 1 week amidst the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) with some students participating and others not participating.

It was gathered that while some lecturers in the school under ASUU stopped attending classes, others lecturers under the umbrella of Congress of Nigerian Universities’ Academics (CONUA) in OAU refused to join the industrial action, thereby causing more confusion in the school.

A final year student of Zoology who spoke to newsmen said that the university management has ”purposely given him extra year”.

According to him, all the lecturers in his department are members of ASUU and for that reason are not part of the ongoing examination in OAU whereas his colleagues in other departments where the lecturers are not part of ASUU are taking the exams. “Is that not extra year? When some of your colleagues graduate and you still remain in school.” He lamented.

Another final year student who simply identified himself as Adeola said: “The postponement is psychologically disturbing. They postponed exam indefinitely. This has not happened in OAU before.”

One of the lecturers in the Faculty of Arts describe the ongoing examination as unprofessional, illegal and unsafe.

However, when contacted, Isiaka Aransi, Dean of Students’ Affairs said ”the university is on top of the situation”.

Explaining how the institution will tackle the fear of spending an extra year among some of the finalists, he said: “No students will be left out without writing exam. Let them continue writing the ones they are writing. Every exam will be written, I can assure you.” He said students will write the exam before the next session begins.